How would you briefing the case of Terry v. Ohio 393 U.S.1,88 S. Ct. 1868,20 L. Ed. 2d 889 (1968) Please include an example of a proper brief...

Briefing a case is a practice used by most law schools. On
an undergraduate level, I have no reason to think the form would be any different. The
idea is to provide a very brief summation of the identifying information and the high
points of the case, which will help you grasp the facts and the principles involved, and
which also is an aid to class discussion.  Generally, what I recall from law school is
this pattern:

Case caption - Provide the name of the case
and its legal citations for example, Terry v. Ohio, 393 US.
1(1968)

Facts of the case - These should be very briefly
stated, no more than one paragraph, and sometimes only a few
sentences.

Procedural History - Explain how the case went
from the trial court to the appellate courts that followed, who won and who lost at each
level, who appealled.

Issues involved - What legal issue
was involved on appeal?

Holding - What decision did the
court make?

Rationale - Upon what did the court base its
decision?

Disposition - Where does the holding leave the
parties? For example, some cases are not done after the court makes a ruling because the
case is remanded (sent back) to the trial court.

Concurring
and dissenting opinions - Sometimes not everyone on the court agrees, which results in a
dissenting opinion you are expected to briefly summarize.  In other cases, there is
agreement among the judges about the holding, but a judge or two (or three) will have a
different reason for that decision and write an opinion explaining his or her point of
view.  This, too, should be summarized very briefly.

When I
was in law school, we were expected to brief a case using only sheet of legal pad paper,
sometimes for decisions that were more than sixty pages long. It is a challenge, but it
can be done.

When I went looking to see if anything had
changed, I found a link that I have provided below, which is exactly the way I briefed
cases in law school.  Once you get accustomed to this form, you will find it incredibly
useful to grasp the essence of a case and to be able to discuss it intelligently in
class.